JOC Staff | Feb 12, 2013 2:06PM EST
Asia’s total containerized trade volumes saw both exports and imports contract year-on-year in 2012, according to the latest figures from Container Trade Statistics.
Excluding intra-Asia shipments, exports from Asia fell 0.86 percent to 44.7 million 20-foot-equivalent units, while imports dropped 3.35 percent to 21.6 million TEUs.
After seeing year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2012, both imports and exports contracted significantly in the second half of the year, with imports and exports in the third quarter down 10.7 percent and 5.1 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Imports also declined by 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter in 2011, while exports fell 1.7 percent.